


Somewhere In The Cosmos

by sleepismyfriend



Category: Doctor Who (1963), Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-02-01
Updated: 2010-02-01
Packaged: 2017-10-10 21:31:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/104515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleepismyfriend/pseuds/sleepismyfriend
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's possible that no one is fooling around anymore.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Somewhere In The Cosmos

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is mentioned in my other work, [(Un)guarded](http://archiveofourown.org/works/767290/chapters/1438329). It assumes that Liz Shaw was in fact exposed to Agent Yellow from the PROSE: Eternity Weeps novel, but did not die.

Elizabeth Shaw was neither patient, nor was she well. Her entire body was feverish yet clammy as she stared down the man in the faded UNIT uniform in front of her, clutching her IV with her right hand as though it was the only thing between her and the sterile hospital floor. Each breath hurt more than the next, and in the back of her mind, she wondered why on Earth she was allowing herself to be out of bed.

"Leave me alone," she screamed, forgetting her usual logic, as burning anger filled her lungs before dissipating. She took several deep breaths, each one weaker than the next, attempting to recoup the use of energy, as the look in his eyes softened.

"I’m not going anywhere, Elizabeth," he replied, wanting to reach out to her, and take her in his arms, and instead keeping his distance. Liz stared him down, her posture folding inward as her knuckles gripping the IV turned white. She tried moving one foot forward, only to close her eyes. When had the room begun to spin?

Alistair saw tears fall from her closed eyes, and undid the buttons of his jacket and sash, throwing both into the plastic empty chair to the right of him. He then rolled up the sleeves of his white collared shirt, and moved forward into her space. Liz felt the slightest touch of his hands at her elbows before moving upwards, holding each side of her, as she attempted to regain equilibrium.

"Alistair, please," Liz whispered, opening her eyes to look up into his. He wanted to reach up and wipe her tear-stained cheeks, but she looked away, focusing her eyes on his chest instead. "I don’t want to live like this anymore—I can’t—Please—"

"Ssssh," Alistair said, wrapping his arms around her. He was careful not to disturb her IV wires, as she released the IV pole. It was a start, he told himself, as her body eased enough for her to rest her head against his chest. 

Her skin was hotter than it had been before, a fact he intended to mention to her physician later. Her sobs were quiet, as he began rubbing up and down her back in large strokes. "We’ll find the right one. Together, all right?"

He felt Liz’s sigh, and planted a soft kiss in her hairline. She never strayed an inch from him, or tried to pull away. Instead, she sighed, and held on tighter, a fact that he thought he could be imagining. He had never known her to be this broken before, and it worried him to no end.

"Whatever they’ve done now, it’s not working," she said, her scientific mind coming back to the forefront. "They bloody well could have put saline in the IV drip for all I know."

"Maybe, but it never hurt anyone to remain hydrated when they are ill." Liz pulled back and looked up. His gaze held that soft tenderness that scared Liz half to death most days. "They’re the best doctors that UNIT can provide."

"Right." Liz pulled away, grabbing her IV once more. He let go, watching as she made the short distance back to the bed. When she tried to climb back up into bed and failed, he moved behind her, pushing the IV pole and lines to one side so he could help her into bed.

"I want to go check in with the doctors." Alistair was careful with his choice of words, as Liz settled back. "And check your progress. I’ll have someone come in and change the sheets for you and help you change, alright?"

Alistair reached for the clean dry rag sitting on the nightstand next to a water pitcher. Folding it into four and wetting it, he placed it across her forehead, as her eyes closed. "Good?"

"Better," Liz sighed, laying one arm across her stomach. Alistair turned, but Liz caught his hand before he had moved away. "Alistair?"

"Hmm?"

"I’m sorry."

"Oh, Lizzie, you have nothing to be sorry for."

\--

As he exited Liz's room into the corridor, Alistair found a young looking man with dark spiky hair donning a brown pin striped suit and rather dirty white trainers leaning against a doorframe. He raised an eyebrow when the young man straightened up, and moved towards him.

"Hello, Brigadier—How is she?" The man asked, shoving his hands into his suit pockets. The man’s casualness only meant one thing to Alistair, and he sighed and looked away towards the floor.

"If you have to ask, Doctor—"

"Right, well, okay. That means I’ve landed at precisely the right time," the Doctor sighed, running his hands through his spiky hair, as Alistair watched the wheels turning in his brain. "I can fix this and be back in no time. I just need a basic lab. Nothing too incredibly fancy. Basic microscopes and the like. I suppose you’ve got one around here that can synthesize basic compounds?"

Alistair nodded, watching the Doctor fragment words and thoughts. He couldn’t believe that this was his old friend standing before him.

"To what do we owe this pleasure?" Alistair said his next thought without thinking, and the Doctor paused to look at him for a moment.

"In there is a woman whose brilliant mind is going to help save the universe, and she doesn’t even know it yet. Whether she lives or dies will affect millions on people on this planet." The Doctor’s face changed. "I made a mistake before. I didn’t get to her in time, and saw the consequences of my actions here on Earth. She deserves better. For both of you."

"Do you know how to cure her?" Alistair was too hopeful for his own good, as he flashed to a life in which Liz wasn’t fighting such an awful disease and that lead his brain to hope for something more for the two of them. It was such a scary prospect, and yet here the Doctor was, willing to hand it to him on a silver platter. The offer was more than tempting enough.

"Yes, but there isn’t much time." Alistair led the Doctor down the hallway towards the Nurses’ Station. Pausing to tell the nurse what Liz needed, he had her doctors paged without another thought.

\--

It was several hours later before Alistair heard a single knock at the door of Liz’s room. He was lying alongside her on the tiny bed as she slept curled up next to him for the first time in days. The silent sound of nothing but air floating around them was a comforting one, and the knock took him off guard. 

The Doctor poked his head in, and Alistair began to extract himself from Liz’s embrace. She had pitched more than a fit when he had suggested the idea of them parked on the bed like two teenagers. However, once they had each found their particular spot and settled down, it made for a rather comfy embrace for both of them.

Liz murmured, as he pulled away. He bent down brush his lips across her temple.

"I’ll be right back. Sleep," he whispered before he moved towards the door. The Doctor had already made his exit and was standing out in the hall, again with his hands in his pockets. As soon as Alistair had closed the door behind him, the Doctor pulled a crystal blue vial from his pocket.

"This will take care of the strongest part of the problem," the Doctor instructed. "Put it in a cup of tea, or water, or whatever kind of liquid you can get her to drink. She’ll only taste a tinge of bitter on her tongue as a reminder. However, that’s only half of the antidote. The rest her doctors will administer via IV. Shouldn’t take more than 48 hours to flush her system completely of the remnants of Agent Yellow. However, her body will be weak before it gets strong again."

"What about possible side effects?"

"I promise you, I’ve taken care of it," the Doctor replied with a look of genuine honesty and concern that Alistair was quite thankful for as he took and studied the vial for himself. He found it hard to believe that her cure was in his hands. "She’ll be perfectly healthy and normal, and feisty as ever."

It was the first time that Alistair had seen this incarnation of the Doctor smile, and it was a rather refreshing sight, to say the least.

"I don’t know about you, Doctor, but I don’t think she ever really lost that," Alistair smirked, before pausing. "I don’t know how to say thank you."

"Whatever it is the two of you have? Don’t lose it," the Doctor said, his serious features returning. Alistair had seen this expression on the Doctor before, and knew that it was when he truly cared about something. "Guard it with your life, sir. That will be thanks enough for me."

"Not a problem, Doctor, I assure you," Alistair grinned, and held his hand out, which the Doctor shook. It was an unusual response, but the Doctor didn’t mind.

"I have to go."

"Oh, somewhere better in the cosmos you have to be right now?"

"In about five minutes, Sarah Jane Smith is going to come up in here like a banshee warrior wanting to know why you haven’t told her about Liz’s condition. She’s going to be rather irate and annoyed, and ask all sorts of questions about everything under the sun. I can’t be here when she arrives. It’s not our time yet."

"Didn’t know you and Sarah Jane were ones to have any specific time, Doctor. From the looks of things, it all rather blurs together. Not that you ever asked my opinion, of course."

The Doctor nodded, then bowing his head while rubbing his neck with his long slender fingers. 

"Another story for another time."

"I’ll hold you to that promise."

"Alright then. Till next time, Brigadier."

"Till next time, Doctor." Alistair shot off a salute, and watched the Doctor strode off down the corridor. He looked at the vial in his palm before closing his fingers around it, and sighing. The answer to everything was in his palm, and he was glad that the Doctor had been paying attention. 

He knew when he saw Sarah Jane turn the corner approximately four and a half minutes later that it was possible that the Doctor wasn’t fooling around anymore, either.


End file.
